American Influences in Philippine Art,

Culture, Sculpture, Architecture,

Literature, Music and Dance
 HISTORY
• In 1898, the United States declared war on
Spain.
• During World War I, the Filipinos fought
alongside the Americans.
• In 1934, the Tydings/McDuffie Law was
passed, making the Philippines
commonwealth of the U.S
 HISTORY
• On July 4, 1946, the United States declared
the Philippines an independent nation.
ARCHITECTURE
With the arrival of the Americans in 1898 came a
new breed of Architectural Structures in the
Philippines

Foremost of the American Contributions to the

country was the establishment of civil government

This led to the erection of government from the

city all the way to the municipal
 ARCHITECTURE
A lot of structures were built to serve as
government buildings from cities to
municipalities as they establish the civil
government.

The design and style of the establishments were

akin to Greek or Roman constructions
Philippine Normal University
 Philippine Normal University

The present Philippine Normal University was originally the

Philippine Normal School (PNS), the first institution of higher
learning established during the American occupation of the
Philippines.

With the signing of the charter, Republic Act No. 416 on

June 18, 1949 during the term of President Elpidio
Quirino, PNS was converted into the Philippine Normal
College, authorized to grant undergraduate and
graduate degrees in education.
National Museum of Fine Arts
 National Museum of Fine Arts

The neoclassical building was built in 1921 and

originally served to house the various legislative
bodies of the Philippine government. Known as
the Old Legislative Building (also the Old Congress
Building), it was the home of the bicameral congress
from 1926 to 1972, and the Philippine Senate from
1987 to 1997.
Manila Central Post Office Building
 ARCHITECTURE
• American architecture influence in the
Philippines can be classified in two types; the
so-called first generation Filipino architects
who studied architecture and engineering in
the United States who were sponsored by the
colonial masters and the Second generation
architects who emerged in the late 1920s and
1930s.
 ARCHITECTURE
• The first generation exemplifies combined
Beaux Arts elements with a touch of
modernism promoting the ideas of utility in
architecture.
• The second generation on the other hand
introduced the Art Deco portraying exotic
embellishments.
Manila Metropolitan Theater
 Manila Metropolitan Theater

The Manila Metropolitan Theater is an Art Deco

building designed by the Filipino Architect Juan M.
Arellano, and built in 1935

During the liberation of Manila by the combined

American and Filipino Troops in 1945, the theater was
totally destroyed. After reconstruction by the
Americans it gradually fell into disuse in the 1960s. In
the following decade it was meticulously restored but
again fell into decay
Iglesia ni Cristo
 Iglesia ni Cristo

The Iglesia ni Cristo is an international Christian religion

that originated in 1914. Their church buildings primarily
serve used for other religious functions.

These churches were described as structures “which

employ exterior neo-Gothic vertical support columns with
tall narrow windows between, interlocking trapezoids, and
rosette motifs, as well as tower and spires.

There are multiple entrances leading to the main

sanctuary, where males and females sit on either sides of
the aisle facing a dais where sermons are made
Far Eastern University
 Far Eastern University

At the Far Eastern University (FEU) in Quiapo, Manila, five Art

Deco structures on the campus were designed by National
Artist Pablo Antonio

Three were built before World War II and two, after,

Although FEU buildings were totally damaged during the war,
the university was restored to its original Art Deco design
immediately after.

The university was given a UNESCO Asia Pacific- heritage

Award for Cultural heritage in 2005 for the outstanding
preservation of its Art Deco structures.
 ART DECO
• Art Deco, sometimes referred to as Deco, is a
style of visual arts, architecture and design
that first appeared in France just before World
War I. Art Deco influenced the design of
buildings, furniture, jewelry, fashion, cars,
movie theatres, trains, ocean liners, and
everyday objects such as radios and vacuum
cleaner
LITERATURE
• Many Filipinos started writing again and the
nationalism of the people remain undaunted.
Filipino writers went into all forms of literature
like news reporting, poetry stories, plays,
novels and essay. Their writings clearly
depicted their love of country and their
longings for independence.
 By 1901, public education was
institutionalized in the Philippines, with
English serving the medium of instruction.

We can trace the beginnings of Philippine

literature in English with the coming of the
Americans.
Visual Arts
 Visual Arts

• The American brought in Education and Value

Formation, with both following the “American
way of life” (Alice Guillermo, Sining Biswal, 1994,
p. 4)
• Art Illustration, Advertising and Commercial
Design gained popularity and incorporated in
Fine Arts.
• Painting themes still largely favored Genre
Paintings, Landscapes and Still Life; Portraits are
reserved for high ranking officials with a more
academic approach to make the subject more
formal.
Watawat ng Pilipinas
Fernando Amorsolo
 Government
• Partisan politics was one of the influences of
the Americans on our government.
• Implementation of municipal elections
• The election in the Philippines turned to be
like the election of the Americans.
 Religion
• During the Spanish colonization, the Filipino
people were forced to convert their religion
into Christianity (Roman Catholic). But after
the colonization of the Spanish, Americans
came and changed the religion into
Protestantism which was the religious beliefs
of the Americans
 Education
• Americans introduced the idea of free
education to the Philippine islands. The
United States even sent teachers to help
establish schools where the Filipino children
could have a free education.
• By 1901, public education was
institutionalized in the Philippines, with
English serving the medium of instruction.
 Transportation
A lot of transportation was introduced by
the Americans to the Philippines, some are
submarine, caretellas, railways, ancient bull
carts, cars, etc.
Marston Mat
• primarily for the
rapid construction
of temporary
runways and
landing strips
(also misspelled
as Marsden
matting)
 MUSIC
• VAUDEVILLE
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety
entertainment popular in the United States and
Canada from the early 1880’s until the early
1930’s. Each performance was made up of a
series of separate, unrelated acts grouped
together on a common bill. Types of acts
included popular and classical musician,
dancers, comedians, trained animals,
magicians,
 MUSIC
female and male impersonators, acrobats,
illustrated songs, jugglers, athletes, celebrities,
minstrels, and movies. A vaudeville performer
is often referred to as a vaudevillian.

• New kinds of music and dance were

introduced like rock n roll, boogie, jazz, tango,
chacha, polka, and rhumba.
 MUSIC
• When the Americans came, they brought blues, folk, R&B,
and rock and roll. They also made music a part of the
educational curriculum. This developed the skills of
Filipinos in music and so they used this skill to imitate
Western music to create local versions of Western music.
Songs became a hybrid of other forms of music that were
popular then, such as kundiman. Nevertheless, the
influence of the Americans in Filipino music proved to be
evident during the 1960’s (during the popularity of the
Beatles) and 1970’s (“disco fever”).
 The Negative Impact of the American
Colonization
• Americanization of the Filipinos- buying of
imported products instead of local ones.
Colonial mentality- Filipinos lost self-
confidence and believed that Filipinos could
not compete with the products of other
countries. As a result, Filipino culture was
neglected. Filipino values like “pagmamano”
was replaced by saying hi or hello. Filipino
food like bibingka and suman were replaced
by American food like hotdog and French fries.